The government has launched a �10m campaign to tackle teenage pregnancies as Britain has the worst record in Europe. BBC News Online looks at some of the issues.

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The figures

Across Western Europe, the rates of under 20 pregnancies have fallen in recent years. The UK is the exception. In England and Wales, conception rates fell between 1990 and 1995, but rose in 1996 - from 58.6 per thousand in 1994 to 63 per thousand in 1996.

In 1996, 8,829 girls under 16 in England and Wales - 9.4 per 1000 population - became pregnant, half of whom had an abortion and 4,279 of whom continued with their pregnancy.

Family planning organisations argue that, overall, the number of births to teenagers has actually fallen by 42,000 between 1966 and 1996.

Variations within the UK

Teenage pregnancy rates vary widely around the country, tending to be higher in inner cities and other urban areas. According to the Family Planning Association, girls in these areas are more likely to have the baby than to have the pregnancy terminated.

Other research shows that certain groups of young women have been shown to be more likely to become pregnant than others.

These are women from families which are large, in lower socio-economic groups, headed by a lone parent and have low levels of academic attainment.

The most at risk women include those whose families were born in Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Caribbean, who have witnessed parental divorce when they were aged between 7 and 16, have been sexually abused in childhood, or are leaving public care.

The daughters of women who were themselves teenage mothers appear to be twice as likely as those of older mothers to become pregnant in their teens.

International comparisons

Comparable teenage pregnancy statistics are not easily available from other countries. The Netherlands and the USA represent the two extremes in the Western World. In 1990, the pregnancy rate for girls aged under 15 was 0.9 per 1,000 in the Netherlands and 7.1 per 1,000 in the USA.

The consequences of teenage pregnancy

There is evidence that the future health and well-being of young mothers and their babies may be worse than that of older mothers. During pregnancy young women smoke more than mothers of any age and there is an increased risk of suffering anaemia and pre-eclampsia.

Research shows that babies are likely to be born prematurely, to weigh less or to be too small. They are less likely to be breastfed than the children of older mothers.

State support

There is an argument that the availability of welfare is seen as an incentive to childhood, allowing young women to reject contraception, abortion and adoption.

But research has shown that the majority of young women are unaware of their housing and benefit entitlement prior to becoming pregnant.

Single young mothers are six times more likely than the general population to live in areas with more than 75 per cent of social housing.

Sex education

Almost one in five British teenage girls and over one in four teenage boys have had sex before the age of 16. Sex education is compulsory at secondary schools, but parents have the right to withdraw their children from lessons.

Some studies into teenage unplanned pregnancies point to a lack of information about contraceptive usage and emergency contraception, embarrassment about discussing contraception with a partner and unplanned sexual intercourse.

Unwillingness to discuss contraception with a doctor and fears about confidentiality if they do so are important factors.

Recent research concluded that providing school sex education before young people become sexually active, and increasing availability to family planning clinic services can be effective in reducing teenage pregnancy.